Earl Aelfheah

1 train an hour this morning. 7:30, 8:30 and 9:30.

Both are terrible imo. Whoever wins, we need a general election soon, in order to give them a mandate. We are getting not just a new PM, but effectively a completely different manifesto. It can't be chosen by a couple of hundred MPs and then around 100,000 party members. Taking back control eh? Whoever gets in has the opportunity to completely rewrite our legal and regulatory system.

Rook Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Shaunag there is no perfect answer Im afraid when > it comes to the relative value of GBP. There are > always people on either side of the market. > If its expensive for importers/ its cheap for > exporters etc Except as a country we import far more than we export.

TwoScoops Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > I think the uk has a great negotiating position *facepalm*

It's so unacceptable, and yet we accept it.

Hunt has just announced his intention to impose the junior drs contracts from October.

The Executive Summary makes interesting reading: http://www.iraqinquiry.org.uk/media/246416/the-report-of-the-iraq-inquiry_executive-summary.pdf

Just seen the summary. It certainly doesn't come across as a whitewash.

Seabag Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Maybe it's simpler to say this > > If you knew before what you know now > > That the substantial claims to redirect funds to > the NHS were false > > That the two campaigns to leave were actually > 'one' > > That the PM, Johnson, Farrage would walk > > That the game was mostly a power struggle within > the Tory party > > That Farrage and his claims were right-wing fear > mongering > > That no-one from leave had a plan, or even a > sketch of what might be ahead > > That the voters would vote the same? All 17 > million odd I'm not convinced that a second referendum today would get a wildly different result. People weren't voting for something, they were voting against something. Many don't like the EU (or what they think the EU is). Many don't like immigration (or what they think immigration means). They weren't asked to think about an alternative, they were given a binary choice. For or against. Asked the same question, many (regrettably) would answer 'against'. It should never have gone to a referendum in the first place imo, but again, it's kind of a moot point now.

Everyone gets a vote regardless or how informed they may or may not be, however smart / stupid they might be, prejudiced or not etc. etc. It's democracy and the vote is for us to leave. Now we need to work out how what we're going to do having 'flipped the bird' to the worlds second largest economy, think about rebuilding bridges and exploring new opportunities elsewhere. I think the whole exercise has been incredibly destructive and foolish, but the decision has been made and we now need to start taking action to stem the damage.

My guess (we'll soon see), is that Blair believed Saddam posed a general (if not imminent) threat and it was clear to him that Bush was going in regardless. On balance, he took the view that we were better to back the US than stand on the sidelines and that he might be able to get bush to be alittle more consensual - look to obtain a second security council resolution. In the end it all ran away from him and he found it impossible to back out. I think he was pretty cavalier about things and suffered a good deal of self deception / confirmation bias. I don't think he 'lied' as such. Certainly looked for evidence to justify (as much to himself) the road he was already committed to. It's all very sad, but I don't think he's a war criminal.

I personally blame a combination of the press and the politicians who colluded with it. The Express, Mail, Sun etc. have been publishing ridiculous, often completely untrue stories about the EU for years and have also been ratcheting up the rhetoric around immigration and asylum for some time now. Politicians have seen fit to either leave it unchallenged, or to play to the fears being stoked for political advantage. You can't reverse decades of propaganda during the course of a short referendum campaign. The public disgust at the phone hacking of murder victims and their families, bribing of police and other public officials and general amoral behaviour of the tabloids was a chance for change. The Leveson Inquiry was a chance for change. Cameron, who never seems to look further ahead than next week, decided not to grasp the once in a generation opportunity given to him to challenge Murdoch and Dacre and their destructive grip on public discourse.

BrandNewGuy Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Indeed. Just shows what noisy people can get. > Ridiculous. Tt may not have been clear, but this was my point (not that Melbourne Grove was a hotspot, quite the opposite). My hope is that in future, there will be a more strategic approach to prioritising road changes, which will target hotspots, rather than simply responding to 'he who shouts loudest'.

Whether he is racist or not however, I do think he is odious. That 'facepalm' speech he made the other day in the European parliament was pathetic in the true sense of the word. It was his moment, the culmination of years of campaigning and whether you agree with him or not (I don't), it should have been a proud, victorious moment for him. Instead of being magnanimous, of making the most of it, he insulted everyone and came across as mean, petty and deeply insecure.

"Taking back control" "We just want to be a normal country"

Whilst no one can know what is in another person's heart - I do think Farage is probably quite racist. Whilst I'm sure he'd condemn the loud punchy, out there type of racists (too crass) - That poster, the talking about immigrants bringing crime and disease, complaints about people on the tube talking in foreign languages - you don't have to read too hard between the lines. Sure, it's racism of the polite, banal, guarded type, that's not at all uncommon (especially amongst people of his generation and older). In someways it's a far more insidious. This is the thing, when people say that it's a 'small minority of racists', I am not so sure that's correct. I think racism is actually incredibly pervasive, just subtle.

I think I see what you mean. EU companies may be put off importing goods from the UK due to uncertainty about future trade deals (despite the weaker pound making such goods cheaper at least in the short term)?

Lordship 516 Wrote: > When inflation rises, purchasing power is > diminished. > The resultant drop in consumer spending has a > negative effect on stock and bond prices that will > be further affected by a resistance to exports. > Unemployment will rise, for sure. @Lordship 516 - That all makes sense, expect the bit about resistance to exports, which I don't think I've quite grasped. Would some exports not be boosted at least, by the falling value of the pound?

Lordship 516 - a poll of 700 plus economists suggests you may be right about possible stagflation. http://www.ft.com/fastft/2016/06/29/uk-inflation-to-breach-2-in-2017-economists/

He also critised Labour at the last election for suggesting that he was trying to cut too hard too fast, saying it would bankrupt the country if we attempted to bring the deficit down slightly more slowly (less slowly than he himself has done).

I have an ipad with a cracked screen

...or, a tiny cake being stamped on by Rupert Murdoch.

Well quite. Let's also hope that there is a more strategic approach to identifying investment priorities going forward, to ensure that accident hotspots are being tackled.

I agree. Confidence is a huge part of what happens economically and it's undoubtedly suffered a huge blow as a result of Brexit.

Farage was spotted hobnobbing with Murdoch over the weekend.